March 7, 2017

House Republicans Unveil Plan to Replace Health Law

House Republicans unveiled on Monday their long-awaited plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, scrapping the mandate for most Americans to have health insurance in favor of a new system of tax credits to induce people to buy insurance on the open market.

There’s a slew of details about the bill in this article, so it’s worth a quick scan. It doesn’t look so good if you’re among those Americans relying upon an ACA policy, or assistance from Medicaid expansion.

The early talk from DC holds that both the GOP and Democrats are giving it a thumbs-down. It’s early still, and it’s not unanimously condemned.

After months of reading on this, and seeing the initial reaction to what’s in the bill, my guesses are: the bill will fail in the Senate, if not in the House where it’s been brought; the ACA will stand as-is; and the coming explosive scandal surrounding Mr. Trump will bring a loss of majority to the GOP - and open the door for the Democrats to improve the existing law. Taking a cue from the populist Sanders wing of the party the new Congress will move the ACA closer to a single-payer system.

That’s a long-term prediction. I could easily be wrong. I’m not wrong about the coming storm, though.